Bottle seal or cap



June 9, 1936. M. w. coUT'rs ET AL 2,043,319

BOTTLE SEAL OR GAP Filed Oct. 27, 1934 P atented June 9, 1 I

q UNITED; STATES PATENT OFFICE norrm sear. on car Morton William Coutts, Otahuhu, and- John Samuel Gibbons, Onehunga, New Zealand Application October- 21, 1934, Serial No. 750,356 g V In New Zealand November 27, 1933 1 Claim- (Cl. 215-46) This invention relates to bottle seals or caps of the well known type having crimped edges which engage the bottle mouth and hold a'cork or like material washer tightly over said mouth,

liquids bottled under pressure, such-as aerated waters, ale, beer, beverages and the like, the

thickness of metal of said seals must be such that V the crimped edge will not tend to 're-expand when the seal has been appliedand has become subject to the pressure of the liquid. We are aware that bottle seals are known wherein the seal top is severed to form a central finger piece from which a breaking strip extends to the flange of the seal, such breaking strip either being severed (and thereforefla continuation of the finger piece) or provided by a series of perforations which are ada ted to form a line of break whichin eifect resul in the formation of a breakingvstrip.

With such seals, theremoval thereof is effected by bending the finger piece upwardly and then pulling same in the direction of the breaking strip, but due to the thickness of-metal of the seals the pull applied must be very considerableand then again care has to be taken to avoid cutting of the fingers.

It has previously been recognized that such operation is diflicult to the average person and in an eflort-to simplify, the tearing of the flange,- rim or skirt (as it is alternatively called) the severingof the breaking strip has been continued down said flange for .-a portion of its depth.

While the severing of the flange for a por-- tlon of its depth enables much easier tearing'of said flange when removing the seal, this severing is unsatisfactory in that it weakens the seal where it-requires its strength in order to be effective as a seal and it has been found that seals so severed gradually re-exp'and after being applied to the bottles, and thegases of the contents escape and the liquids become fiat and useless. f

We are also'awarej that in previously known eeds, lateral cbrrugationsghav'e applied to the crimped edge the finger piece in order to enable a better finger I grip to be obtained and corrugations have also been applied to and parallel with thebreaking strip, to tend to direct the tearing to the flange, instead of across the said breaking strip. 5 In these previously known seals it will be noted that the removal action necessitates the gripping and pulling of the finger piece in order to effect a tearing action of the flange or rim but by the present invention a levering action is used for 10 seal removal which is not only easier and safer but enables the seal rim or flange to retain its .full strength, free from any severing or weakening. I

Broadly the present inventioncomprises providing the seals with means which can be positioned to give leverage and (if desired) a finger grip so that the rim or skirt of the seal without any pre-weakeningmeans can be broken or fractured to'an extent which will enable release of and complete removal of the seal. v

In describing the'invention, reference will be made to the accompanying drawing'in which v .Fig. 1 shows a sectional elevation of the seal,

2 is a side elevation of- Fig. l,

Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a'sectional side elevation on line A-B of Fig.- 1. a r

- Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of a seal as applied to a. bottle, and

. Fig. 6 shows a seal broken by its removalfrom a bottle, The invention-comprises a seal of the usual form crimped I at its rim or skirt 2 and having a top 3. g V

The top 3 is partially pierced or severed at .l in certain parts only (see Fig. 3) so as to form all a a central disc or tongue which may be called a lifting disc or levering tongue 5 and due to being so pierced at l, the levering tongue I is integral with the seal, in that said piercing 4 terminates preferably at the circumference I of top 3.

It has been found that by terminating the piercing I before it reaches the circumference 6 greater pressure is necessary in order to lift the levering tongue 5 whereas by continuing the piercing 4 down the skirt 2 beyond circumferis formed with corrugations I. the two outer grooves 8 and 9 of which, it is desirable should extend right through to the top circumference 6 (see Figs. 2 and 3) it being also desirable to have a connection Iii (see Fig. 3) between the .central ridges ll of said corrugations l for reasons hereinafter described.

In order to eifect proper sealing of a bottle or like, a sealing disc i2 is provided between the top 3 and the usual cork or like washer it.

When the seals are manufactured, they are substantially flat on the top 3 as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, but when applied to a bottle, the seal applying machine slightly domes the top 3 and this causes the free end N of the levering tongue 5 to spring out or be raised a small distance clear of the top 3, thus giving a finger grip as shown in Fig. 5.

In operation, to remove the seal from a bottle, the free end M of the levering tongue E is raised sufficient to enable the thumb -to engage there- ,under and while holding the bottle by its neck with the thumb under the edge of the levering tongue 5, an upward movement'of the latter will cause the rim or skirt 2 to be broken or fractured across as shown in Fig. 6 and the seal will fall off, or be easily removed.

Obviously, the seal removal could be a two handed operation by holding the bottle in one hand and pulling the levering tongue 5 upwardly with the other, but the method of removal previously described has been found best from the point of view of safety from getting scratched fingers, in that the thumb will be away from the side of the seal at which the tear or fracture takes place.

If the levering tongue 5 was perfectly fiat and did not have the strengthening means along its length (such as corrugations 1) said levering tongue 5 would bend in its length and thus necessitate a pulling action instead of a leverlng one in order to tear across or break the rim or skirt 2 and it has been found that by continuing the outer grooves 8 and 9 right through to the top circumference 6, these grooves 8 and 9 limit to a satisfactory extent any tendency there is for the tearing or fracturing to take place along the top circumference 6 instead of down the rim or skirt 2 as desired.

By having the connection l0 between the centre ridges ll of the corrugations I, when the seals are being applied to bottles and become slightly domed in the process, said connection ll allows the free end I 4 of the levering tongue 5 to be bent across the corrugations I as well as lengthwise therewith and thus apart from the sealing operation adding strength to the levering tongue (by becoming domed) the tongue 5 does not stick up or protrude to a distance or degree which would make the handling of the bottles more awkward than at present.

Obviously the seals could be slightly domed when manufactured but as such doming is eifected in the bottle sealing operation, previous doming in most cases is unnecessary.

While it is important to have the two lines of severance or piercing l where they meet the,

top circumference 6 at a distance apart substantially as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing, it is'not essential that such lines of severance be parallel to each other as they could converge to form a levering tongue 5 of substantially triangular form with the free end it as the apex of such triangular shaped tongue.

It will be obvious that if the levering tongue 5 was made too narrow, there would not be enough strength across same (between the lines of severance 4 where they meet the top circumference 6) to prevent mere bending of said tongue without bursting of the rim, whereas if made too wide, insufiicient length of tongue would be obtainable for the levering action to be easily effected.

It will be obvious that the usual lifting tools can still be used for the removal of the seals when it is so desired.

-We claim:

A bottle cap comprising a top part and an angularly disposed contractible skirt part, sealing means arranged in said cap, said top part being slit to form a tongue-like member, said slit having widely spaced portions extending to and terminating at the angle defined between the top and skirt parts, said skirt part being imperforate to preserve the sealing strength thereof, and reinforcing means extending substantially throughout the length of said tongue and beyond an imaginary line drawn across the ends of said slit whereby said tongue, when lifted, acts as a lever for applying a bursting strain down said skirt part.

' MORTON WILLIAM COU'ITS.

JOHN SAMUEL GHBBONS. 

